Foot construction for garments



Nov. 26, 1963 w. w. ARTZT r-rrm. 3,111,676

FOOT CONSTRUCTION FOR GARHENTS I Filed Sept. 20. 1961 \n/ILLIIIM WALTER 1418727 50 AND Eva flpaM' INVENTOR5 ATTO R N EY United States Patent Office 3,111,676 Patented Nov. 26, 1963 3,111,676 n FOGT CONSTRUCTION FGR GARMENTs William Walter Artzt, 116 E. 68th t., New York, lid-Y and Eva Adam, New York, N.Y.; said Adam assrgncr to said Artzt Filed Sept. 20, 1961, Ser. No. 139,416 4 (Claims. (Cl. 2-80) This invention relates generally to [garments provided with foot covering portions, such as pajamas, leotards or the like, especially for children.

Garments of the described character have previously been provided with foot covering portions permanently attached to the legs of the garment and which rapidly become soiled when the wearer walks on dusty floors, sandy beaches or the like. 'Further, the existing permanently attache-d foot covering portions of the described garments make uncomfortable the wearing or shoes or slippers thereover and do not permit the wearing of sandals or other footwear of the type having thongs extending between the wearers toes.

Although garments of the described character have been provided with foot covering portions detachable from the legs, such detachable foot covering portions are frequently misplaced or lost, particularly when the garments are intended for children.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a permanently attached foot construction for garments of the described character which may be alternatively disposed in a closed condition whereby the wearers foot is fully and comfortably enclosed therein, or in an open condition to fully expose the wearers foot, whereby the foot construction of the garment is not soiled even wh n walking on dusty floors, sandy beaches or the like and the wearer may walk barefoot or comfortably don shoes, slippers or sandals.

Another object is to provide a foot construction for garments of the described character arranged so that the same may be conveniently and quickly manipulated to either fully cover the wearers feet or to expose the latter.

Still another object is to provide a foot construction having the previously mentioned functional characteristics and which presents a neat and attractive appearance in both its foot covering and exposing conditions.

A further object is to provide a foot construction of the described character which is relatively simple and inexpensive to produce.

In accordance with an aspect of this invention, a foot construction for garments of the described character includes top and bottom parts having front portions which are free of each other to define an opening therebetween through which the wearers foot can extend, the front portions of the top and bottom parts further having pockets opening generally rearwardly at the bottom and top sides, respectively, of such parts so that the pockets can be nested in each other to close the front of the foot construction and thereby fully enclose the wearers foot in the latter.

The top part is preferably integral with the front of the garment leg and has a front end extension which is bent under and secured, at its side edges, to the adjacent side edges of the top part to define one of the pockets, while the bottom part is also preferably formed with a front end extension which is bent back thereon and secured, at its side edges, to the adjacent side edges of the bottom part to define the other poclcet which is disposed at the outside of the nested pockets in the closed condition of the foot construction. In the open condition of the foot construction, the pocket at the front of the top part is flattened and rests, with the remainder of the top part of the instep of the wearers foot, while the bottom part of the foot construction is folded upwardly and preferably has its pocket inverted or turned inside out to hold the folded bottom part against the inner surface of the back of the leg in back of the heel of the wearers foot, thereby to fully expose the wearers foot while providing a neat and attractive appearance.

The above, and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent in the following detailed description of an illustrative embodhnent thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a foot construction for garments of the described character which embodies the present invention and is shown in its closed condition;

P16. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the foot construction of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the foot construction of FIGS. 1 and 2, but shown in the open condition thereof to fully expose the wearers foot which is illustrated in broken lines;

PEG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2, but showing the foot construction in its open condition, as in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view corresponding to a portion of FIG. 2, but showing a modification of such foot construction; and

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are reduced scale plan views of blanks of fabric employed in the foot construction of FIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that a foot construction embodying the present invention and generally identified by the reference numeral id is intended to be permanently joined to a leg 112 of a garment, such as, pajamas, 'leotards or the like, especially for children, and which is preferably formed of a stretchable or extensible knitted fabric. The leg 12 includes a front part 14 and a back part 16 joined together at their longitudinal edges to provide inner and outer .sewed side seams 13.

The foot construction 10 includes a top part 20' preferably integral with front part 14 or" leg 12 and tapering toward its front end where top part 20 is provided with an integral front end extension 22 (FIG. 6). The front end extension v22 is folded under about the broken line 24 (FIG. 6') so as to underlie the front end portion of top part 2d, and the side edges 26 of the folded under extension 22 are joined, as by stitches 28 (FIG. 2), to the adjacent portions of the side edges of top part 20 indicated by the brackets 30 on FIG. 6', thereby to define a first toe receiving pocket 32 opening rearwardly at the underside of top part 20 (FIG. 2). The foot construction it) further includes a bottom part 34 (:FIG. 7) intended to form the sole of the foot construction in the closed condition of the latter and havinga front end .extension 36 which is turned 'backcnto bottom part 34 about the fold line 3% and has its side edges 40' secured, as by seams '42. (FIG. 1) to the adjacent portions of the side edges of bottom part 34 indicated by the brackets 44 on FIG. 7, thereby to define a second toe receiving pocket 46 opening rearwardly at the top side of bottom part 3-4.

In assembling together the top and bottom parts 20 and 34 and the front part 14 and back part 1 6 of the leg 12 to provide the illustrated foot construction 1% at the bottom of leg 12, the back edge portion of bottom part 34 indicated by the bracket 48 on FIG. 7 is secured, as by stitches, to the bottom edge 5d (FIG. 8) of the back part 16 of leg 12. so as to form a heel seam 52 (FIGS. 1 and .2) extending between the lower ends of the opposite side seams 18 of leg 12. Further, the side edge portions of top part 2% extending rearwardly from the first pocket 32, and being indicated by the brackets 54 on FIG. 6, are joined, as by stitching, to the corresponding side edge portions of bottom part 34 extending rearwardly from the second pocket 46, and being indicated by the brackets 56 on FIG. 7, thereby to form opposite side sea-ms 58 (FIGS. 1 and 2) which join together the top and bottom parts of foot construction and which extend from the lower ends of the side seams 18 of leg 12 to the first and second pockets 32 and 46 formed at the forward end portions of the top part 21 and bottom part 3-4, respectively. It will be appreciated that the back part 16 of leg 12 may be made in one piece so as to eliminate the heel seam 52.

If desired, a decorative braid or elastic band 60 (FIGS. 1 and 2) may be attached, as by stitching or the like, along the free edge portion of the bent back extension 36 of bottom part 34 which defines the second toe receiving pocket 46 so as to reinforce the adjacent edge of the latter and thereby avoid gaping open of pocket 46 in the closed condition of the foot construction.

When the described foot construction it is in its closed condition, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first toe receiving pocket 32 formed at the front portion of top part 29 is disposed within the second toe receiving pocket 46 formed at the forward portion of bottom part 34 so that the wearers foot extending into foot construction 10 is fully enclosed by the latter.

When it is desired to fully expose the wearers foot, the first pocket 32 is removed from within the second pocket 46 so that a mouth-like opening 62 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is defined between the pockets 32 and 46, which opening is limited, at its opposite sides, by the forward ends of the side seams 58 of the foot construction. By reason of the stretchable or extensible character of the knitted fabric from which the leg 12 and its foot construction It are preferably formed, the wearers foot can be easily extended through the described opening 62, and thereby be fully exposed, as in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the open condition of the foot construction ll the leg 12, which is no longer held down by engagement of the Wearers toes in the pockets 32 and 46, tends to hike up on the wearers leg so that the top part 20 and its flattened pocket 32 then rest upon the instep of the wearers foot. In order to neatly dispose the remainder of foot construction 10 in back of the wearers heel, bottom part 34 is folded up inside of the lower portion of the back part 16 of leg 12 and its pocket 46 is inverted or turned inside out so that the extension 36 of bottom part 34 is then disposed in back of the lower portion of back part 16 and neatly contains the loose material of the opened foot construction, as in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The various parts of the described foot construction 10 are preferably dimensioned so that, when the foot con struction is in its closed condition, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the knitted fabric thereof is stretched or extended to some extent by the wearers foot therein which thereby automatically serves to retain pocket 32 within pocket '46 for holding the foot construction in its closed condition. However, as shown in FIG. 5, cooperate fastening means 64 may be provided at the free edge of pocket 46, for example, at the decorative braid or tape 60, and at the normally underlying portion of top part 20 for securely and yet releasably holding pocket 46 over pocket 3-2. Although the fastening means 64 has been illustr-ated to be in the form of a snap fastener, it is to be understood that other forms of conventional fastening means may be employed.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the foot construction 10 for pajamas, leotards or other similar garments, intended especially for children, is adapted to :either fully enclose the wearers foot, or when desired, may be conveniently manipulated to fully expose the wearers foot without requiring either removal of the garment or separation of the foot construction from the legs of the garment. Thus, the wearcfs feet may be exposed to permit walking barefoot or the comfortable wearing of slippers, sandals or shoes, thereby avoiding 4 soiling of the foot portions of the garment by walking on dusty' fioors, sandy beaches or the like.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawing, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment, and that various changes and modifications may be efiected therein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, except as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A foot construction for each leg of a garment of the described character comprising top and bottom parts joined permanently to the related garment leg and alsopermanently joined to each other along limited portions of the adjacent side edges thereof terminating short of substantially coextensive front portions of said parts so that an opening is defined between said front portions through which a wearers foot can extend, and means defining generally rearwardly opening pockets which are substantially coextensive with said front portions and which are respectively disposed under said front portion of said top part and above said front portion of said bottom part so that said pockets can be nestled within each other to close said opening and fully enclose the wearers foot.

2. In a garment having legs each formed of front and back pant-s joined together along their longitudinal edges to form opposite side seams; a foot construction for each leg including a top part extending integrally from the lower end of said front part, means at the front end portion of said top part defining a first rearwardly opening pocket at the underside of said front end portion of said top part, a bottom part, means at the front end portion of said bottom part defining a second generally rearwardly opening pocket at the top side of said front end portion of the bottom part, said first and second pockets being of substantially equal size, means securing the back of said bottom part to the bottom end of said back part of the related leg, and means securing said top and bottom parts to each other along the portions of the side edges of said parts extending rearwardly from said front end portions thereof so that the latter define an opening therebetween through which a wearers foot can extend and be exposed and, alternatively, said first pocket can be nested in said second pocket to close said opening and thereby fully enclose a wearers foot in said foot construction.

3. In a garment having legs each formed of front and back parts joined together along their longitudinal edges to form opposite side seams; a foot construction for each leg comprising a top part extending integrally from the lower end of said front part, an integral extension at the front end of said top part turned under the front portion of the latter and having its side edges secured to the front portions of the side edges of said top part to define a first rear-wardly opening pocket at the underside of said front portion of the top part, a bottom part having an integral extension at its front end which is turned back onto the front portion of said bottom part and has its side edges secured to the front portions of the side edges of said bottom part to define a second pocket opening rearwardly at the top side of said front portion of the bottom part, said first and second pockets being of substantially equal size, a heel seam extending between the lower ends of said side seams of the leg and securing the bottom edge of said back part of the leg to the back edge of said bottom part, and side seams extending forwardly along said foot construction from said lower ends of the side seams of the leg and joining together the side edges of said top and bottom parts in b ack of said front portions thereof so that the front pontions of said top and bottom parts are free of each other topermit a Wearers foot to be extended therebetween and thus exposed, while the nesting of said first pocket within said second pocket closes the front of the foot construction and thereby fully References Cited in the file of this patent encloses a weevrers foot therein. UNITED STATES PATENTS 4. In a garment, a foot construction as in claim 3; fu'r- A Ither including cooperative fastening means adjacent the 1393300 3? 1921 3 1,794,850 Eaton Mar. 3, 1931 firee edge of 831d turned back extension of the bottom part 5 1 2,705,320 L'annstein et a l Apr. 5, 1935 and at 581d top part, respec-tiveiy, and which are releaszably engageabie with each other upon nesting of said first FOREIGN A E T pocket in said second pocket for holding the foot con- 667,173 Germany Nov. 5, 1938 struction in its closed condition. 685,957 Germany Dec. 29, 1939 

2. IN A GARMENT HAVING LEGS EACH FORMED OF FRONT AND BACK PARTS JOINED TOGETHER ALONG THEIR LONGITUDINAL EDGES TO FORM OPPOSITE SIDE SEAMS; A FOOT CONSTRUCTION FOR EACH LEG INCLUDING A TOP PART EXTENDING INTEGRALLY FROM THE LOWER END OF SAID FRONT PART, MEANS AT THE FRONT END PORTION OF SAID TOP PART DEFINING A FIRST REARWARDLY OPENING POCKET AT THE UNDERSIDE OF SAID FRONT END PORTION OF SAID TOP PART, A BOTTOM PART, MEANS AT THE FRONT END PORTION OF SAID BOTTOM PART DEFINING A SECOND GENERALLY REARWARDLY OPENING POCKET AT THE TOP SIDE OF SAID FRONT END PORTION OF THE BOTTOM PART, SAID FIRST AND SECOND POCKETS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL SIZE, MEANS SECURING THE BACK OF SAID BOTTOM PART TO THE BOTTOM END OF SAID BACK PART OF THE RELATED LEG, AND MEANS SECURING SAID TOP AND BOTTOM PARTS TO EACH OTHER ALONG THE PORTIONS OF THE SIDE EDGES OF SAID PARTS EXTENDING REARWARDLY FROM SAID FRONT END PORTIONS THEREOF SO THAT THE LATTER DEFINE AN OPENING THEREBETWEEN THROUGH WHICH A WEARER''S FOOT CAN EXTEND AND BE EXPOSED AND, ALTERNATIVELY, SAID FIRST POCKET CAN BE NESTED IN SAID SECOND POCKET TO CLOSE SAID OPENING AND THEREBY FULLY ENCLOSE A WEARER''S FOOT IN SAID FOOT CONSTRUCTION. 